INTRODUCTION

The Friends of Hugh Miller is a registered charity* which celebrates and promotes the legacy of this great pioneering Scottish geologist. We also seek to encourage the study and practice of the earth sciences in the 21st Century in Miller's name.

Hugh Miller began working life as a jobbing stonemason, and went on to achieve great acclaim as a folklorist, national newspaper editor, church reformer and best-selling author on geology.

His life and work are presented in the Hugh Miller Museum and Birthplace Cottage in the Black Isle town of Cromarty. The Museum has been in the care of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1938, and has gained a 5-Star visitor attraction rating from VisitScotland. Important collections of his science and literature are held in several of Scotland’s national museums in Edinburgh.

The Friends group was founded by Martin Gostwick in 2006, supported by his wife, Frieda Gostwick. They saw the need to broaden public knowledge of the man, and provide support for the Museum. The group works in partnership with the Trust and its staff.

With funds mainly raised through our members’ annual subscriptions and occasional donations, we perform a range of crucial tasks, such as acquiring artefacts for the Museum, maintaining this website, publishing a newsletter, sponsoring Hugh Miller-related publications, organising events, and providing volunteers supplying key back-up services for the Museum’s openings to the public. (See Friends' Activities)